Billie Stewart repositioned the baby carrier on her desk at Mendon High School, then pulled its tiny occupant into her arms.

She placed one hand carefully on the back of the baby’s head and her other hand under its bottom, striking a perfect mother-infant position.

Stewart, a junior, learned a lot in the 48 hours she was in the care of the lifelike doll. The biggest lesson she learned, however, pleased her teacher, Gayle Walbeck.

“This is why I’m not going to have a kid until I’m, like, 35,” Stewart said.

Walbeck teaches a life skills class that includes a component on being in charge of a baby. An “infant simulator,” produced by a Wisconsin company called Realityworks, gives high school students a chance to experience life with a baby.

The doll is weighted proportionate to its height. Its temperament is set at medium through a computer program controlled by Walbeck. Lower settings result in a docile child, while a higher setting reflects the personality of a baby who demonstrates severe distress.

For students who have had the doll already this semester, the experience has been across the board. Most girls in the juniors- and seniors-only class said they received shameful glares from strangers at least once.

Others were approached by well-meaning strangers with an interest in seeing and, in a few cases, holding the baby. The looks on their faces ranged from disappointment to befuddlement, students said.

Walbeck, who has taught in Mendon since 2002, said the school was loaned six infant simulators about seven years ago through the Child Abuse and Neglect Council of St. Joseph County. The district now owns two of the dolls, with a third requested through the Mendon Foundation.

Students prepared for the commitment by being assigned an egg in mid-November. Walbeck coded the eggs with unique markings, so students wouldn’t be able to grab a replacement in case of an accident.

The students were required to maintain the eggs at all times. A broken or missing egg would lower a student’s unit grade.

Walbeck said the egg and infant simulator are lessons under the parenting unit of the life skills class.

“It teaches students a lesson about the responsibilities that come with being a parent … that babies aren’t all about cute, cuddly and playful,” Walbeck said. “They complain about the egg, but quickly realize how easy that is after they’ve had to care for the infant.”

A computer chip in the faux baby documents whether it received proper care, which would include rocking, changing a diaper (albeit free of a true mess and smell), burping and feeding. Likewise, cases of the babies being mishandled are tracked. Such instances would involve whether the baby was shaken, it lacked head support while being handled, it was placed in an incorrect position or was handled roughly.

Page 2 of 2 - Like a real child, the infant will demonstrate unpredictable behavior, day or night.

Over Christmas break, senior Erin Grimes agreed to take the baby for a week. She said the baby in her care was low-maintenance, although she said she has a nurturing touch by virtue of raising siblings.

“I wasn’t really sure what my classmates were complaining about, because it was pretty easy to handle when I had it,” she said.

Junior Samantha Griffith said she had a basketball game one night and left the baby in the care of her mom and dad. The two decided to go out to eat and took along the baby. Inevitably, her father, Constantine High School football coach Shawn Griffith, bumped into a coach from another school, who looked quizzically at what appeared to be a real infant.

Her dad was quick to provide an explanation, Samantha said.

Lori Wright, the first current student to take care of the infant, said she was at Target and quickly grew tired of the gawking directed her way.

“It started to make me mad and I just wanted to yell, ‘It’s not real, OK?’” Wright said. “I mean, it could have been a niece or a younger sibling, maybe I was babysitting. People just jump to conclusions.”

While some parents of the students secretly relished being a pretend grandparent, senior Sarah Kitchen relayed what was probably the most comical anecdote.

Either she or her parents posted something on Facebook about the temporary new addition, which caused a reaction among some family members.

“I had some (geographically) distant relatives who really thought I had a baby and they sent me flowers,” Kitchen said, drawing laughter from her classmates and Walbeck.

Walbeck said she appreciates coaches and fellow teachers for going along with the program and putting up with occasional disruptions from a “hungry” or “tired” baby and a quick-to-react “parent.”

The unit’s reaction from students varies.

“Some just hate the experience and think it’s worthless, others realize the value,” Walbeck said. “The most memorable moment I’ve had with this class was one girl on her last day with the baby, she came in, plopped the carrier seat on her desk and said ‘That’s it, when I grow up I’m going to get a dog and a depo (provera birth-control) shot.’”

Walbeck smiled as she recalled the declaration.

“I just thought to myself, ‘All right, my work here is done,’” she said, triumphantly.